Emerging Climate Justice Discourse
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A dissertation submitted to the Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy of Central European University in part fulfillment of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Emerging Climate Justice Discourse: Perspectives of Grassroots Networks in the UK CEU eTD Collection Yulia BARABANOVA November, 2013 Budapest Notes on copyright and the ownership of intellectual property rights: (1) Copyright in text of this dissertation rests with the Author. Copies (by any process) either in full, or of extracts, may be made only in accordance with instructions given by the Author and lodged in the Central European University Library. Details may be obtained from the Librarian. This page must form part of any such copies made. Further copies (by any process) of copies made in accordance with such instructions may not be made without the permission (in writing) of the Author. (2) The ownership of any intellectual property rights which may be described in this dissertation is vested in the Central European University, subject to any prior agreement to the contrary, and may not be made available for use by third parties without the written permission of the University, which will prescribe the terms and conditions of any such agreement. (3) For bibliographic and reference purposes this dissertation should be referred to as: Barabanova, Y. 2013. Emerging Climate Justice Discourse: Perspectives of Grassroots Networks in the UK. Doctoral dissertation, Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy, Central European University, Budapest. Further information on the conditions under which disclosures and exploitation may take place is available from the Head of the Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy, Central European University. CEU eTD Collection i Author’s declaration No portion of the work referred to in this dissertation has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other institute of learning. Furthermore, this dissertation contains no materials previously written and/or published by another person, except where appropriate acknowledgment is made in the form of bibliographical reference, etc. Yulia BARABANOVA CEU eTD Collection ii Abstract This dissertation captures the emerging grassroots’ discourse on climate justice as having potential to advance climate politics. The research is motivated by a concern about the intensifying climate crisis and the failure of the dominant climate politics fixated on carbon emissions and market-based logic to provide appropriate solutions. The study explores the discourse of two networks, Camp for Climate Action and Rising Tide, which have taken direct action on climate justice in the UK. To provide an empirically- rich and in-depth account of how grassroots networks conceptualize an alternative climate politics against the backdrop of the dominant discourse, this study adopts the theoretical lenses of post-politics and a multi-scalar justice combined with the methodological framework of critical discourse analysis. The overarching argument of this dissertation is that grassroots’ discourse on climate change reveals a constant struggle between reproduction of and resistance to the dominant discourse. Yet despite the tensions and contradictions, it is contended that it offers directions for an alternative climate politics that prioritizes community rather nation-state approach to climate change. Further, it encompasses multiple scales and sides of justice rather than a singular distributional logic, and seeks to re-socialize economic relations rather than rationalize them through the considerations of profit. It is concluded that such conceptualization constitutes a counter- discourse on climate politics that in many ways transcends the dominant discourse and offers distinctive forms of being, living and acting in common. Keywords: climate justice, climate activism, grassroots networks, critical discourse analysis CEU eTD Collection iii Acknowledgements As I finish revising the final version of this dissertation, faces, voices, conversations and meetings with people who I came across during my studies appear in my mind and make me feel thankful and privileged at the same time. Among these people there are activists, scholars, administrators, classmates, roommates, colleagues, and others who indirectly or directly contributed to making this dissertation happen. I’m thankful to all the activists from Rising Tide, Climate Camp and other networks for their open attitude and time that they spent with me while being extremely busy with resisting and creating. I felt truly inspired by your actions and ideas. I’m also grateful for the support of scholars from various countries that I received during this hard but fulfilling academic exploration. Thank you David Featherstone from the University of Glasgow, Petr Jehlicka from the Open University, Richard Filcak from Slovak Academy of Sciences, and Guntra Aistara from CEU for your insightful and timely comments and encouragement. I would also like to acknowledge valuable help of Gyorgyi Puruczky and Denise Mirat in dealing with the administrative procedures and linguistic pitfalls. Two academics are particularly dear to my heart – Tamara Steger from CEU and Don Fuchs from the University of Manitoba. Throughout these years your attentive guidance and practical help in the most critical moments of my studies helped me overcome seemingly insurmountable barriers and make steady progress. Thank you for encouraging, motivating and pushing me forward! My last expressions of gratitude are destined for my family. I’m so thankful to my parents, Vera and Valera, for directing me in the right direction when I was at the crossroads and supporting me unconditionally along the way. And even more so, for encouraging me to plunge into the unknown at the decisive moment and find my own way in life. Finally, I’m so grateful for sharing my life with somebody who is never tired of dreaming, planning, learning, and exploring. Thank you, Ivan, for living with me all these little moments of joy and sadness, hope and despair, wonder and discovery that these five years of studies have been marked with. CEU eTD Collection iv Table of contents Introduction: Climate change politics and grassroots networks ................................ 1 1.1 Climate activism in the UK .......................................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Study focus: Camp for Climate Action and Rising Tide networks .............................................................. 5 1.3 Overview of chapters .................................................................................................................................. 8 2 Research design .............................................................................................................. 11 2.1 Critical discourse analysis .......................................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Defining grassroots networks .................................................................................................................... 15 2.3 Data collection ........................................................................................................................................... 18 2.3.1 Participant observation .......................................................................................................................... 20 2.3.2 Interviews .............................................................................................................................................. 25 2.3.3 Documents ............................................................................................................................................ 30 2.4 Coding and data analysis ............................................................................................................................ 32 2.5 Reflection on the research process and the researcher’s role .................................................................. 36 3 Theoretical framework on the political discourse of climate change ............... 39 3.1 The dominant discourse on climate change: emissions, market solutions and distributive justice ........... 40 3.1.1 Climate change: from science to politics/policy .................................................................................... 41 3.1.2 Neoliberalism......................................................................................................................................... 45 3.1.3 Ecological modernization and neoliberal discourses ............................................................................. 48 3.1.4 The dominant solutions to climate change ............................................................................................ 50 3.1.5 Justice in the dominant climate discourse ............................................................................................. 53 3.1.6 The post-political condition and the dominant climate change discourse ............................................ 56 3.2 Climate justice: a counter-discourse on climate change ............................................................................ 60 3.2.1 Climate justice concept: a brief history ................................................................................................. 61 3.2.2 Alter-globalization movement ..............................................................................................................